Backlight module having an optical film and display apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

A backlight module including a light guide plate, a light source, an optical film, a diffusion sheet, a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet is provided. The light guide plate has a light incident surface and a light emitting surface connected to each other. The light source is disposed on a side of the light incident surface. The optical film is overlapped with the light emitting surface and has a plurality of optical microstructures facing the light emitting surface. The diffusion sheet is disposed between the light guide plate and the optical film. The first prism sheet and the second prism sheet are overlapped with the optical film and are positioned on a side of the optical film being far away from the light guide plate. A display apparatus adopting the backlight module is also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of a prior application Ser.No. 16/884,027, filed May 26, 2020, which claims the priority benefit ofChina application serial no. 201910455228.2, filed on May 29, 2019. Theentirety of the above-mentioned patent application is herebyincorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an optical module and a display apparatus, andmore particularly to a backlight module and a display apparatus.

Description of Related Art

Along with the widespread application of non-self-luminous displays suchas liquid crystal display, the design of the backlight module needsbeing adjusted for different purposes. In order to improve the energyutilization rate of the light source, a backlight module equipped with abrightness enhancement film (BEF) has become one of the mainstreams inthe market. In general, this type of backlight module is a laminatedstructure having two brightness enhancement films (for example, twoprism sheets that have the prisms having the extending directionsperpendicular to each other), so as to redirect the light beam emittedfrom the light guide plate at large angle to a specific viewing anglerange (such as from −60 degrees to 60 degrees) covering the normalviewing angle, thereby improving the overall intensity of light emittedfrom the backlight module at the normal viewing angle. However, thebacklight module adopting two brightness enhancement films can not meetthe specification requirements for the light collecting efficiency ofthe backlight module of the anti-peep display apparatus.

In order to further increase the light collecting efficiency of thebacklight module, a type of light-collecting backlight module thatadopts a reverse prism sheet to replace the two laminated brightnessenhancement films is developed. This type of backlight module canfurther increase the total amount of light emitted at the normal viewingangle (which means having the light focusing characteristic with asmaller angular range). Otherwise, since the number of stacked opticalfilm layers carried by the light collecting backlight module isdecreased, so the overall thickness of the backlight module can beeffectively reduced. However, from another point of view, in thelight-collecting backlight module, the light beams of the total internalreflection inside the light collecting reverse prism sheet are less, thereverse prism sheet has a low haze and cannot be used with a diffusionsheet. Therefore, when there exist small defects or tiny objects (suchas dusts or shavings are brought in during assembly) between the filmlayers of the backlight module, they are easily detected in the processof the optical inspection of the following quality control. In otherwords, the backlight module with excellent light collecting efficiencyhas poor concealing ability to prevent small defects, which results in adecrease in overall assembly yield rate. Therefore, how to balance thelight collecting efficiency and concealing ability of the backlightmodule is one of the problems that manufacturers need to face whendesigning and developing.

The information disclosed in this Background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background of the describedtechnology and therefore it may contain information that does not formthe prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in theart. Further, the information disclosed in the Background section doesnot mean that one or more problems to be resolved by one or moreembodiments of the invention was acknowledged by a person of ordinaryskill in the art.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides a backlight module having high assembly yieldrate and good light collecting efficiency.

The disclosure provides a display apparatus which has higher totalamount of light emitted at a viewing angle close to the normal viewingangle.

Other target and good point of the disclosure is providing a betterunderstanding based on the technical characteristic that is disclosed.

In order to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned objectives, oneembodiment of the disclosure provides a backlight module. The backlightmodule includes a light guide plate, a light source, an optical film, adiffusion sheet, a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet. The lightguide plate has a light incident surface and a light emitting surfaceconnected to each other. The light source is disposed on a side of thelight incident surface of the light guide plate. The optical film isoverlapped with the light emitting surface of the light guide plate andhas a plurality of optical microstructures facing the light emittingsurface. The diffusion sheet is disposed between the light guide plateand the optical film. The first prism sheet and the second prism sheetare overlapped with the optical film and are positioned on a side of theoptical film being far away from the light guide plate. An extendingdirection of a plurality of prism structures of the first prism sheet isnot parallel to an extending direction of a plurality of prismstructures of the second prism sheet.

In order to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned objectives, oneembodiment of the disclosure provides a display apparatus. The displayapparatus includes a display panel, a light guide plate, a light source,an optical film, a diffusion sheet, a first prism sheet and a secondprism sheet. The light guide plate has a light incident surface and alight emitting surface connected to each other. The display panel isoverlapped with the light emitting surface. The light source is disposedon a side of the light incident surface of the light guide plate. Theoptical film is overlapped with the light emitting surface of the lightguide plate and is located between the light guide plate and the displaypanel. The optical film has a plurality of optical microstructuresfacing the light emitting surface. The diffusion sheet is disposedbetween the light guide plate and the optical film. The first prismsheet and the second prism sheet are overlapped with the optical filmand are located between the display panel and the optical film. Anextending direction of a plurality of prism structures of the firstprism sheet is not parallel to an extending direction of a plurality ofprism structures of the second prism sheet.

Based on the above, in the backlight module and the display apparatus ofthe embodiment of the disclosure, the optical film has a plurality ofoptical microstructures facing the light guide plate, so as to increasethe total amount of light emitted by the backlight module at a viewingangle close to the normal viewing angle (namely, increasing the lightcollecting efficiency of the backlight module). On the other hand, thetwo prism sheets are disposed on a side, which is far away from theoptical microstructures, of the optical film, so as to further improveconcealing ability of the backlight module, thereby increasing theassembly yield rate of the backlight module. In other words, the processlatitude of each of the components in the backlight module may also beincreased. Besides, a diffusion sheet is provided between the opticalfilm and the light guide plate to further improve the light collectingefficiency of the backlight module.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will befurther understood from the further technological features disclosed bythe embodiments of the invention wherein there are shown and describedpreferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustrationof modes best suited to carry out the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitutea part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of thedisclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a backlight module according to a firstembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the backlight module in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the backlight module in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a curve showing the relation between viewingangle and brightness of the backlight module in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an optical film accordingto another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an optical film accordingto yet another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of a backlight module according to asecond embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of a backlight module according to athird embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a display apparatus according to oneembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic top view of the display apparatus in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a schematic side view of a display apparatus according toanother embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a backlight module according to a fourthembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a schematic top view of the backlight module in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a backlight module according to a fifthembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a schematic top view of the backlight module in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a schematic side view of a backlight module according to asixth embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferredembodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers areused in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or likeparts.

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment,reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof,and in which are shown by way of illustration preferred embodiment inwhich the invention may be practiced, so as to present clearly theabove-mentioned, and other the technical content, features, andfunctions related to the invention. In this regard, the directionalterminologies, such as “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “front”, or“back”, etc., are used with reference to the orientation of theFigure(s) being described. The components of the invention can bepositioned in a number of different orientations. As such, thedirectional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is inno way limiting. On the other hand, the drawings are only schematic andthe sizes of components may be exaggerated for clarity. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Also, itis to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein arefor the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereofherein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalentsthereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms“connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted” and variations thereof herein areused broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings,and mountings. Similarly, the terms “facing,” “faces” and variationsthereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirectfacing, and “adjacent to” and variations thereof herein are used broadlyand encompass directly and indirectly “adjacent to”. Therefore, thedescription of “A” component facing “B” component herein may contain thesituations that “A” component directly faces “B” component or one ormore additional components are between “A” component and “B” component.Also, the description of “A” component “adjacent to” “B” componentherein may contain the situations that “A” component is directly“adjacent to” “B” component or one or more additional components arebetween “A” component and “B” component. Accordingly, the drawings anddescriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not asrestrictive.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a backlight module according to a firstembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of thebacklight module in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of thebacklight module in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram of a curve showing therelation between viewing angle and brightness of the backlight module inFIG. 1. It should be noted here, for clarity, FIG. 3 only shows a lightguide plate 100, a light source 110, and optical microstructures 122 ofan optical film 120 in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a backlight module 50 includes the lightguide plate 100, the light source 110, and the optical film 120. Thelight guide plate 100 has a light emitting surface 100 a and a lightincident surface 100 b, and the light emitting surface 100 a and thelight incident surface 100 b are connected to each other. The opticalfilm 120 is overlapped with the light emitting surface 100 a of thelight guide plate 100. The light source 110 is disposed on a side of thelight incident surface 100 b of the light guide plate 100. Namely, thebacklight module 50 of the embodiment is an edge-type backlight module.However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments,the backlight module may also be direct backlit module. It should benoted here, in the embodiment, the number of the light sources 110 isfive as an example for illustration purpose, and it does not presentthat the disclosure is limited by the content of the drawings. In otherembodiments, the number and disposition of the light sources 110 can beadjusted according to the optical design of the backlight module.

Furthermore, the optical film 120 includes a substrate 121 and aplurality of optical microstructures 122. The substrate 121 has a lightincident side 121 a and a light emitting side 121 b opposite to eachother, and the optical microstructures 122 are disposed on the lightincident side 121 a, which faces the light guide plate 100, of thesubstrate 121. In the embodiment, the material of the substrate 121 mayinclude polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC). Thematerial of the optical microstructures 122 may include UV glue(ultraviolet curable resin, for example), or other appropriate highmolecular polymer.

In the embodiment, the optical microstructures 122 of the optical film120 may be arranged on the substrate 121 in X direction and may beextended in Y direction. The cross-sectional profile of the opticalmicrostructure 122 on a plane (such as XZ plane) perpendicular to theextending direction (such as Y direction) may have a triangular shape.Namely, the optical microstructures 122 in the embodiment may betriangular prisms. To be more specific, each of the opticalmicrostructures 122 has the first inclined surface 122 s 1 and thesecond inclined surface 122 s 2, and the junction of the first inclinedsurface 122 s 1 and the second inclined surface 122 s 2 defines a ridgeline RL of the optical microstructure 122. The disclosure is not limitedthereto. In other embodiments, the cross-sectional profile of theoptical microstructures 122 on the XZ plane can also be adjustedaccording to actual requirements of light distribution type (or lightsplitting effect).

Referring to FIG. 3, in the embodiment, the extending direction (such asY direction) of the orthogonal projection of the ridge line RL (namely,the extending path) of each of the optical microstructure 122 on thelight emitting surface 100 a of the light guide plate 100 can beoptionally perpendicular to the light incident surface 100 b of thelight guide plate 100. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.In other embodiments, the extending direction of the orthogonalprojection of the ridge line RL of the optical microstructure 122 on thelight guide plate 100 may not be perpendicular to the light incidentsurface 100 b of the light guide plate 100. For example, an anglebetween the extending direction of the orthogonal projection of theridge line RL of the optical microstructures 122 on the light guideplate 100 and the light incident surface 100 b of the light guide plate100 is between 45 degrees and 90 degrees. In a preferred embodiment, theangle between the extending direction of the orthogonal projection ofthe ridge line RL of the optical microstructures 122 on the light guideplate 100 and the light incident surface 100 b of the light guide plate100 is between 75 degrees and 90 degrees.

It is worth mentioning that, the angle between the extending directionof the optical microstructures 122 and the light incident surface 100 bof the light guide plate 100 is designed to be in the range of 45degrees to 90 degrees in order to increase the total amount of lightemitted by the backlight module at a viewing angle close to the normalviewing angle and reduce the total amount of light emitted by thebacklight module at a viewing angle close to the side viewing angle(such as 45 degrees). On the other hand, the orthogonal projection ofthe ridge line RL of the optical microstructure 122 on the lightemitting surface 100 a of the light guide plate 100 is a straight line,but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the backlight module 50 further includesa first prism sheet 130 and a second prism sheet 140. The first prismsheet 130 and the second prism sheet 140 are overlapped with the opticalfilm 120 in the normal direction (such as the Z direction) of the lightemitting surface 100 a of the light guide plate 100, and the first prismsheet 130 and the second prism sheet 140 are located on a side, which isfar away from the light guide plate 100, of the optical film 120. Thefirst prism sheet 130 is located between the optical film 120 and thesecond prism sheet 140. To be more specific, the first prism sheet 130has a substrate 131 and a plurality of prism structures 132. The prismstructures 132 are arranged in the Y direction on a side surface, whichis far away from the optical film 120, of the substrate 131, and areextended in X direction. Similarly, the second prism sheet 140 has asubstrate 141 and a plurality of prism structures 142. The prismstructures 142 are arranged in the X direction on a side surface, whichis far away from the first prism sheet 130, of the substrate 141, andare extended in Y direction.

That is to say, in the embodiment, the extending direction (such as theX direction) of the prism structures 132 of the first prism sheet 130may be perpendicular to the extending direction (such as the Ydirection) of the prism structures 142 of the second prism sheet 140,but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, theextending direction of the prism structures 132 of the first prism sheet130 may not be perpendicular to and may not be parallel to the extendingdirection of the prism structures 142 of the second prism sheet 140.Namely, the angle between the extending direction of the prismstructures 132 of the first prism sheet 130 and the extending directionof the prism structures 142 of the second prism sheet 140 may be greaterthan 0 degree and less than 90 degrees. From another point of view, inthe embodiment, the extending direction of the prism structures 142 ofthe second prism sheet 140 may be parallel to the extending direction ofthe optical microstructures 122 of the optical film 120, but thedisclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the anglebetween the extending direction of the prism structures 142 (projectedonto the light emitting surface 100 a, for example) of the second prismsheet 140 and the extending direction of the optical microstructures 122(projected onto the light emitting surface 100 a, for example) of theoptical film 120 is between 0 degree and 30 degrees.

It is worth mentioning that, the first prism sheet 130 and the secondprism sheet 140 are disposed on a side, which is far away from theoptical microstructures 122 of the optical film 120, so that a part ofthe light beams from the optical film 120 is totally reflected in thetwo prism sheets in order to improve concealing ability of the backlightmodule 50, thereby increasing the assembly yield rate of the backlightmodule 50. In other words, the process latitude of each of thecomponents in the backlight module 50 may also be increased.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, to be more specific, the first inclinedsurface 122 s 1 and the second inclined surface 122 s 2 of the opticalmicrostructure 122 has an apex angle θ therebetween, and an angulardegree of the apex angle θ of the optical microstructure 122 is between85 degrees and 110 degrees, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.When the angular degree of the apex angle θ of the opticalmicrostructure 122 is designed to be between 85 degrees and 110 degrees(such as 85 degrees, 90 degrees, and 100 degrees), the brightness oflight emitted by the backlight module 50 at a viewing angle (such as anviewing angle from −15 degrees to 15 degrees) close to the normalviewing angle is all higher than the brightness of light emitted by thebacklight module without optical film 120, and the brightness of lightemitted by the backlight module 50 at a viewing angle close to theviewing angle of 45 degrees is all lower than the brightness of lightemitted by the backlight module without optical film 120. Therefore, asshown in FIG. 4, with the structure of the backlight module 50 in FIG.1, the optimum design value of the angular degree of the apex angle θ ofthe optical microstructure 122 is 90 degrees.

Based on above description, the angular degree of the apex angle θ ofthe optical microstructure 122 is designed to be in the range of 85degrees to 110 degrees in order to further increase the total amount oflight emitted by the backlight module at a viewing angle close to thenormal viewing angle and efficiently reduce the total amount of lightemitted by the backlight module at a viewing angle close to the viewingangle of 45 degrees. It should be noted here, the viewing angle (such asa viewing angle of 45 degrees or 60 degrees) that is used to determinethe optimum design value of the angular degree of the apex angle θ isselected according to optical specification of anti-peep displayapparatus. In other embodiments, the viewing angle that is used todetermine the optimum design value of the angular degree of the apexangle θ may also be adjusted according to applications of backlightmodule.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, as an option, the backlight module 50may further include a diffusion sheet 150. The diffusion sheet 150 isoverlapped with the light emitting surface 100 a of the light guideplate 100 and is located between the light guide plate 100 and theoptical film 120. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Inother embodiments, the backlight module may not have the diffusion sheet150. On the other hand, as an option, the backlight module 50 mayfurther include a reflection sheet 160. The light guide plate 100further have a bottom surface 100 c opposite to the light emittingsurface 100 a, and the reflection sheet 160 is disposed on a side, whichis close to the bottom surface 100 c, of the light guide plate 100. Apart of the light beams emitted by the light sources 110 exits from thebottom surface 100 c of the light guide plate 100 during thetransmission in the light guide plate 100, thereby causing loss of lightenergy. Therefore, through the arrangement of the reflection sheet 160,the part of the light beams can be reflected and transmitted back to thelight guide plate 100 so as to improve the light energy utilization rateof the light source 110. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.In other embodiments, the backlight module may not have the reflectionsheet 160.

In the following, other embodiments will be described in detail toexplain the disclosure in detail, and the same components will bedenoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the sametechnical content will be omitted. For the omitted part, please refer tothe foregoing embodiments, and details are not described below.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an optical film accordingto another embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectionalschematic view of an optical film according to yet another embodiment ofthe disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, an optical film 120A (asshown in FIG. 5) and an optical film 120B (as shown in FIG. 6) aredifferent from the optical film 120 (as shown in FIG. 2) about theconfiguration of the optical microstructures. To be more specific,similarly, each of the optical microstructures of the optical films 120,120A, and 120B has an apex angle, and the cross-sectional profile of theoptical microstructure 122A of the optical film 120A on the XZ plane isconstituted by a plurality of straight-line segments 1221 (such aspolyline shape). The cross-sectional profile of the opticalmicrostructure 122B of the optical film 120B on the XZ plane isconstituted by the straight-line segment 1221 and the curved-linesegment 1222. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In otherembodiments, the cross-sectional profile of the optical microstructureof the optical film on the XZ plane can also be adjusted according todifferent optical design requirements.

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of a backlight module according to asecond embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of abacklight module according to a third embodiment of the disclosure. Itshould be noted here, for clarity, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 only show the lightguide plate 100, the light sources 110, the optical microstructures 122Cof the optical film 120C, and the optical microstructures 122D of theoptical film 120D. Referring to FIG. 7, the difference between thebacklight module 50A of the embodiment and the backlight module 50 inFIG. 3 is the extending direction of the optical microstructures. In theembodiment, the orthogonal projection of the ridge line RL (namely, theextending path) of the optical microstructure 122C of the optical film120C on the light emitting surface 100 a of the light guide plate 100 isnot parallel to the orthogonal projection of the extending path (namelythe axial direction of the ridge line RL140) of the second prism sheet140 on the light emitting surface 100 a of the light guide plate 100. Tobe more specific, the ridge line RL of the optical microstructure 122Cand the ridge line RL140 of the second prism sheet 140 have an angle α,which is greater than 0 degree, therebetween, and the angle α is lessthan or equal to 30 degrees. Accordingly, the total amount of lightemitted by the backlight module 50A at a viewing angle close to thenormal viewing angle is increased.

On the other hand, in the embodiment, the extending direction of theorthogonal projection of the ridge line RL of the optical microstructure122C on the light guide plate 100 and the light incident surface 100 bof the light guide plate 100 have an angle β, which is less than 90degrees, therebetween, and the angle β is greater than or equal to 75degrees. Accordingly, the bright and dark fringe pattern, such as themoiré pattern, generated between the optical film 120C and the secondprism sheet 140 (or the first prism sheet 130 as shown in FIG. 1) can beeffectively suppressed. In other words, the uniformity of the lightemitted from the backlight module 50A can be improved.

Referring to FIG. 8, the difference between the backlight module 50B ofthe embodiment and the backlight modules 50 and 50A in FIGS. 3 and 7 isthe configuration of the optical microstructures. In the embodiment, anorthogonal projection of a ridge line RL-A (such as an extending path)of the optical microstructure 122D of the optical film 120D on the lightemitting surface 100 a of the light guide plate 100 has a wave shape. Tobe more specific, although the extending path of the opticalmicrostructure 122D has a wave shape, the orthogonal projection of eachof the ridge line RL-A on the light guide plate 100 is still confinedbetween two virtual straight lines IL, and the extending direction ofthe two virtual straight lines IL is substantially the same as theextending direction of the optical microstructures 122 in FIG. 3 or theextending direction of the optical microstructures 122C in FIG. 7. Inother words, the extending direction of the optical microstructure 122Dis substantially the same as the extending direction of the opticalmicrostructure 122 in FIG. 3 or the extending direction of the opticalmicrostructure 122C in FIG. 7.

It is worth mentioning that, since the orthogonal projection of theoptical microstructure 122D on the light emitting surface 100 a of thelight guide plate 100 has a curved shape that is curved back and forth(wave shape), the bright and dark fringe pattern, such as the moirépattern, generated between the optical film 120D and the two prismsheets (the first prism sheet 130 and the second prism sheet 140 asshown in FIG. 1) can be effectively suppressed. In other words, theuniformity of the light emitted from the backlight module 50B can beimproved. It should be noted here, the configuration (such as waveshape) of the optical microstructure 122D can also be optionally appliedto the design of the second prism sheet 140 (or the first prism sheet130), so as to achieve the effect of suppressing the bright and darkfringe pattern generated between the optical film and the two prismsheets. Otherwise, when the backlight module 50B and the display panel200 (as shown in FIG. 9) are overlapped with each other, the opticalmicrostructure 122D having wave shape configuration (or the extendingdirection of the prism structure of at least one of the two prism sheetshas wave shape configuration) can also suppress the bright and darkfringe pattern generated between the optical film 120D (or the prismsheet) and the display panel 200.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a display apparatus according to oneembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 10 is a schematic top view of thedisplay apparatus in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 9, a displayapparatus 1 may include the backlight module 50, the display panel 200,and an electrically controlled viewing angle switching device 300, andthe display panel 200 and the electrically controlled viewing angleswitching device 300 are overlapped with the light emitting surface 100a of the light guide plate 100. To be more specific, the displayapparatus 1 of the embodiment has a switchable anti-peep function.However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments,the display apparatus may not have the electrically controlled viewingangle switching device 300. In the embodiment, the display panel 200 maybe a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, an electrophoretic display(EPD) panel, and other non-self-luminous display panels. In theembodiment, the electrically controlled viewing angle switching device300 can be optionally disposed between the display panel 200 and thesecond prism sheet 140, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Inanother embodiment, the display panel 200 may be disposed between theelectrically controlled viewing angle switching device 300 and thesecond prism sheet 140.

For example, the electrically controlled viewing angle switching device300 may include a liquid crystal cell (not shown) and two polarizers(not shown) disposed on two opposite sides of the liquid crystal cell.The liquid crystal cell includes a liquid crystal layer (not shown) andtwo electrode layers (not shown) located on two opposite sides of theliquid crystal layer, and the two electrode layers can form an electricfield between these two electrode layers and the electric field is usedto drive a plurality of liquid crystal molecules (not shown) of theliquid crystal layer to rotate. Accordingly, the optical axes of theplurality of liquid crystal molecules may vary according to differentelectric field intensities and distributions, so that the amount oflight emitted by the electrically controlled viewing angle switchingdevice 300 at different viewing angles can be adjusted.

Referring to FIG. 10, in the embodiment, the liquid crystal molecule LCof the electrically controlled viewing angle switching device 300 has anoptical axis n, and the axial direction of the optical axis n may beparallel to the extending path (such as the extending direction of theridge line RL) of the optical microstructures 122 of the optical film120. On the other hand, the axial directions of the absorption axes (notshown) of the two polarizers of the electrically controlled viewingangle switching device 300 may be parallel or perpendicular to the axialdirection of the optical axis n of the liquid crystal molecule LC,respectively. It should be noted here, the electrically controlledviewing angle switching device 300 has a viewing angle control direction(such as X direction) that is perpendicular to the axial direction ofthe optical axis n of the liquid crystal molecule LC. In the viewingangle control direction, the display apparatus 1 can electrically changethe total amount of emitted light in the large viewing angle range. Forexample, the total amount of emitted light in the large viewing anglerange can be greatly reduced (or suppressed) in the anti-peep mode, andthe total amount of emitted light in the large viewing angle range canbe restored in the sharing mode. It is worth mentioning that, thebacklight module 50 of the embodiment has a better light collectingefficiency, so as to increase the total amount of light emitted by thedisplay apparatus 1 at a viewing angle close to the normal viewingangle. In other words, the backlight module 50 can further provide abetter anti-peep effect for the display apparatus 1.

FIG. 11 is a schematic side view of a display apparatus according toanother embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 11,in the embodiment, a display apparatus 2 may include the backlightmodule 50, the display panel 200, an electrically controlled diffusionfilm 310, and a viewing angle limiting optical film 320. Theelectrically controlled diffusion film 310 and the viewing anglelimiting optical film 320 are overlapped with the display panel 200. Theelectrically controlled diffusion film 310 is located between thedisplay panel 200 and the viewing angle limiting optical film 320, andthe viewing angle limiting optical film 320 is located between thesecond prism sheet 140 and the electrically controlled diffusion film310. To be more specific, the display apparatus 2 of the embodiment alsohas a switchable anti-peep function.

For example, the viewing angle limiting optical film 320 is, forexample, anti-peep film or phase retardation film. The anti-peep filmis, for example, a 3M grating structure-like anti-peep film. The phaseretardation film includes an A-plate, a B-plate, a C-plate or anO-plate. On the other hand, the electrically controlled diffusion film310 is, for example, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film, apolymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) film, or a liquid crystal lens (LCLens).

Furthermore, the display apparatus 2 can adjust the light beamdistribution pattern emitted from the backlight module 50 through theelectrically controlled diffusion film 310. For example, in the sharingmode, the light beam transmitted at small viewing angle is guided tobecome the light beam transmitted at large viewing angle by scatteringmethod. In the anti-peep mode, the electrically controlled diffusionfilm 310 is disabled, and the viewing angle limiting optical film 320restricts the amount of emitted light at large viewing angle, therebyachieving the purpose of anti-peeping. It is worth mentioning that, thebacklight module 50 of the embodiment has a better light collectingefficiency, so as to increase the total amount of light emitted by thedisplay apparatus 2 at a viewing angle close to the normal viewingangle. In other words, the backlight module 50 can further provide abetter anti-peeping effect for the display apparatus 2.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a backlight module according to a fourthembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 13 is a schematic top view of thebacklight module in FIG. 12. It should be noted here, for clarity, FIG.13 only show the light guide plate 100, the light sources 110, theoptical microstructures 122E of the optical film 120E and the prismstructures 132E of the first prism sheet 130E. Referring to FIG. 12 andFIG. 13, the different between the backlight module 50C of theembodiment and the backlight module 50 in FIG. 3 is the extendingdirection of the optical microstructures.

In the embodiment, the orthogonal projection of the ridge line RL-C(namely, the extending path) of the optical microstructure 122E of theoptical film 120E on the light emitting surface 100 a of the light guideplate 100 may be parallel to the light incident surface 100 b. That is,the angle between the extending direction of the optical microstructure122E of the optical film 120E and the light incident surface 100 b ofthe light guide plate 100 is equal to 0 degree. However, the disclosureis not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the angle between theextending direction of the optical microstructures of the optical filmand the light incident surface 100 b of the light guide plate 100 may begreater than or equal to 0 degree and less than or equal to 45 degrees.

In the embodiment, the extending direction of the prism structures 142Eof the second prism sheet 140E may be parallel to the extendingdirection of the optical microstructures 122E of the optical film 120Eand perpendicular to the extending direction of the prism structures132E of the first prism sheet 130E. However, the disclosure is notlimited thereto. In other embodiments, the angle between the extendingdirection of the prism structures 142E (projected onto the lightemitting surface 100 a, for example) of the second prism sheet 140E andthe extending direction of the optical microstructures 122E (projectedonto the light emitting surface 100 a, for example) of the optical film120E is greater than or equal to 0 degree and less than or equal to 30degrees.

It is worth mentioning that, the first prism sheet 130E and the secondprism sheet 140E are disposed on a side, which is far away from theoptical microstructures 122E of the optical film 120E, so that a part ofthe light beams from the optical film 120E is totally reflected in thetwo prism sheets in order to improve concealing ability of the backlightmodule 50C, thereby increasing the assembly yield rate of the backlightmodule 50C. In other words, the process latitude of each of thecomponents in the backlight module 50C may also be increased. On theother hand, through the arrangement of the diffusion sheet 150, thetotal amount of light emitted by the backlight module at a viewing angleclose to the normal viewing angle may increase and the light collectingefficiency of the backlight module 50C may be further improved.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a backlight module according to a fifthembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 15 is a schematic top view of thebacklight module in FIG. 14. It should be noted here, for clarity, FIG.15 only show the light guide plate 100, the light sources 110, theoptical microstructures 122F of the optical film 120F, the prismstructures 132F of the first prism sheet 130F and the prism structures142F of the second prism sheet 140F. Referring to FIG. 14 and FIG. 15,the difference between the backlight module 50D of the embodiment andthe backlight module 50C in FIG. 12 is the extending direction of theoptical microstructures.

In the embodiment, the orthogonal projection of the ridge line RL-D(namely, the extending path) of the optical microstructure 122F of theoptical film 120F on the light emitting surface 100 a of the light guideplate 100 may not be parallel to and may not be perpendicular to thelight incident surface 100 b. Specifically, the angle between theextending direction of the optical microstructures 122F of the opticalfilm 120F and the light incident surface 100 b of the light guide plate100 may be greater than 0 degree and less than or equal to 45 degrees.

Accordingly, the bright and dark fringe pattern, such as the moirépattern, generated between the optical film 120F, the first prism sheet130F, the second prism sheet 140F and display panel (as shown in FIG. 9)can be effectively suppressed. In other words, the uniformity of thelight emitted from the backlight module 50D can be improved. On theother hand, through the arrangement of the diffusion sheet 150, thetotal amount of light emitted by the backlight module 50D at a viewingangle close to the normal viewing angle may increase and the lightcollecting efficiency of the backlight module 50D may be furtherimproved.

As indicated in TABLE 1, an improvement of light collecting efficiencyof a backlight module having an optical film relative to a backlightmodule of reference 1 is achieved no matter what the angle between theextending direction of the optical microstructures of the optical filmand the light incident surface 100 b of the light guide plate 100 is(referring to the condition 1 to condition 4). It is worth noting thatthe light collecting efficiency of a backlight module of reference 2provided without a diffusion sheet 150 is worse than the lightcollecting efficiency of the backlight module of condition 1 having adiffusion sheet 150. That means, the total amount of light emitted bythe backlight module at a viewing angle close to the normal viewingangle can be further improved by configuring a diffusion sheet 150between the optical film and the light guide plate 100.

TABLE 1 Reference Reference Condition Condition Condition Condition 1 21 2 3 4 Second prism sheet  45° 0° 0° 15° 30° 45° First prism sheet 135°90°  90°  105°  120°  135°  Optical film none 0° 0° 15° 30° 45°Diffusion sheet Yes none Yes Yes Yes Yes Gain ratio 1 0.925 1.151 1.1571.168 1.175

FIG. 16 is a schematic side view of a backlight module according to asixth embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 16, the differencebetween the backlight module 50E of the embodiment and the backlightmodule 50 in FIG. 2 lies in that the backlight module 50E furtherincludes a plurality of spacers SP disposed between the optical film 120and the first prism sheet 130. For example, the spacers SP may beseparately arranged on the light emitting side 121 b of the optical film120, such that an air gap G is included between the optical film 120 andthe first prism sheet 130. However, the disclosure is not limitedthereto. In other embodiment, the spacers SP may also be arranged on thesurface of the substrate 131 of the first prism sheet 130 facing theoptical film 120. It is worth mentioning that the air gap G is largeenough to inhibit the occurrence of Newton rings between the opticalfilm 120 and the first prism sheet 130.

Summarily, in the backlight module and the display apparatus of theembodiment of the disclosure, the optical film has a plurality ofoptical microstructures facing the light guide plate, so as to increasethe total amount of light emitted by the backlight module at a viewingangle close to the normal viewing angle (namely, increasing the lightcollecting efficiency of the backlight module). On the other hand, thetwo prism sheets are disposed on a side, which is far away from theoptical microstructures, of the optical film, in order to improveconcealing ability of the backlight module, thereby increasing theassembly yield rate of the backlight module. In other words, the processlatitude of each of the components in the backlight module may also beincreased. Besides, a diffusion sheet is provided between the opticalfilm and the light guide plate to further improve the light collectingefficiency of the backlight module.

Since the Newton rings may occur between the optical film and the firstprism sheet. A plurality of spacers or an air gap could be disposedbetween the optical film and the first prism sheet.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the inventionhas been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform or to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the foregoingdescription should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent topractitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments are chosen anddescribed in order to best explain the principles of the invention andits best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilledin the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and withvarious modifications as are suited to the particular use orimplementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalentsin which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unlessotherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the presentinvention” or the like does not necessarily limit the claim scope to aspecific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferredexemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation onthe invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The inventionis limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.Moreover, these claims may refer to use “first”, “second”, etc.following with noun or element. Such terms should be understood as anomenclature and should not be construed as giving the limitation on thenumber of the elements modified by such nomenclature unless specificnumber has been given. The abstract of the disclosure is provided tocomply with the rules requiring an abstract, which will allow a searcherto quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure ofany patent issued from this disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scopeor meaning of the claims. Any advantages and benefits described may notapply to all embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated thatvariations may be made in the embodiments described by persons skilledin the art without departing from the scope of the invention as definedby the following claims. Moreover, no element and component in thedisclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether the element or component is explicitly recited in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A backlight module, comprising: a light guideplate, having a light incident surface and a light emitting surfaceconnected to each other; a light source, disposed on a side of the lightincident surface of the light guide plate; an optical film, overlappedwith the light emitting surface of the light guide plate, and having aplurality of optical microstructures facing the light emitting surface,wherein an angle between an extending direction of the opticalmicrostructures and the light incident surface of the light guide plateis greater than or equal to 0 degree and less than 45 degrees; adiffusion sheet, disposed between the light guide plate and the opticalfilm; and a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet, overlapped withthe optical film, the first prism sheet and the second prism sheet beingpositioned on a side far away from the light guide plate of the opticalfilm, wherein an extending direction of a plurality of prism structuresof the first prism sheet is not parallel to an extending direction of aplurality of prism structures of the second prism sheet.
 2. Thebacklight module as recited in claim 1, wherein the first prism sheet islocated between the optical film and the second prism sheet, and anangle between the extending direction of the prism structures of thesecond prism sheet and the extending direction of the opticalmicrostructures of the optical film is between 0 degree and 30 degrees.3. The backlight module as recited in claim 1, wherein a cross-sectionalprofile of each of the optical microstructures of the optical film has atriangular shape, a shape constituted of a plurality of straight-linesegments, or a shape constituted of a straight-line segment and acurved-line segment, wherein each of the optical microstructures has anapex angle, and an angular degree of the apex angle is between 85degrees and 110 degrees.
 4. The backlight module as recited in claim 1,wherein an orthogonal projection of an extending path of a ridge line ofeach of the optical microstructures of the optical film or an orthogonalprojection of an extending path of each of the prism structures of thesecond prism sheet onto the light emitting surface of the light guideplate has a wave shape.
 5. The backlight module as recited in claim ,wherein an air gap is disposed between the optical film and the firstprism sheet.
 6. The backlight module as recited in claim 1, wherein aplurality of spacers are disposed between the optical film and the firstprism sheet.
 7. A display apparatus, comprising: a display panel; and abacklight module, overlapped with the display panel and comprising: alight guide plate, having a light incident surface and a light emittingsurface connected to each other, wherein the display panel is overlappedwith the light emitting surface; a light source, disposed on a side ofthe light incident surface of the light guide plate; an optical film,overlapped with the light emitting surface and located between the lightguide plate and the display panel, the optical film having a pluralityof optical microstructures facing the light emitting surface, wherein anangle between an extending direction of the optical microstructures andthe light incident surface of the light guide plate is greater than orequal to 0 degree and less than 45 degrees; a diffusion sheet, disposedbetween the light guide plate and the optical film; and a first prismsheet and a second prism sheet, overlapped with the optical film andlocated between the display panel and the optical film, wherein anextending direction of a plurality of prism structures of the firstprism sheet is not parallel to an extending direction of a plurality ofprism structures of the second prism sheet.
 8. The display apparatus asrecited in claim 7, further comprising an electrically controlledviewing angle switching device overlapped with the display panel.
 9. Thedisplay apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the first prism sheetis located between the optical film and the second prism sheet, and theelectrically controlled viewing angle switching device is locatedbetween the display panel and the second prism sheet.
 10. The displayapparatus as recited in claim 7, further comprises: a viewing anglelimiting optical film and an electrically controlled diffusion film,overlapped with the display panel, and the electrically controlleddiffusion film is located between the display panel and the viewingangle limiting optical film.
 11. The display apparatus as recited inclaim 10, wherein the first prism sheet is located between the opticalfilm and the second prism sheet, and the viewing angle limiting opticalfilm is located between the second prism sheet and the electricallycontrolled diffusion film.
 12. The display apparatus as recited in claim7, wherein an air gap is disposed between the optical film and the firstprism sheet.
 13. The display apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein aplurality of spacers are disposed between the optical film and the firstprism sheet.